The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus accessible to information on a network when it is connected to the network, and also to an information access method employed in the apparatus.
In accordance with downsizing of information processing apparatuses or development of their performance, so-called portable information processing apparatuses which can easily be carried by any person have been put on the market. These portable information processing apparatuses are characterized in that they can access anytime and anywhere necessary information stored in servers on the network when they are connected to the network. Further, the portable information processing apparatuses each can transfer a document created by itself, to a server through the network, and take in a document from a server through the network. In addition, the apparatuses can annotate on the taken-in document with an input unit such as a dedicated pen, and also edit the document.
However, such an information processing apparatus as represented by the above-described portable type apparatus to be connected to the network cannot always access necessary information through the network. For example, there may well be an occasion in which the portable apparatus cannot be connected to the network. If a desired document which belongs to a server is already taken-in and stored in the portable apparatus, the user of the apparatus can see the document. At this time, however, the user cannot know whether the stored document is an updated one. Thus, where the portable apparatus is disconnected from the network, it is necessary for the user to keep in mind that he or she must examine later whether the document stored in the portable apparatus is an updated one.
Moreover, where the desired document could not be accessed in the last occasion of access and hence is not stored in the portable apparatus, the user must keep in mind the document which could not be accessed, since he needs to access it again when the portable apparatus is connected to the network.
In summary, in an information processing apparatus represented by the above-described portable type apparatus to be connected to a network, the user must keep in mind, when he has accessed information stored in the apparatus which is disconnected from the network, that he needs to examine later whether the accessed information is updated one. Furthermore, the user must keep in mind that if it is determined, when the apparatus has been connected to the network, that the accessed information is not updated one, he needs to access the updated information.